Advances in technology have resulted in smaller and more powerful computing devices. For example, there currently exist a variety of portable personal computing devices, including wireless computing devices, such as portable wireless telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and paging devices that are small, lightweight, and easily carried by users. More specifically, portable wireless telephones, such as cellular telephones and internet protocol (IP) telephones, may communicate voice and data packets over wireless networks. Further, many such wireless telephones include other types of devices that are incorporated therein. For example, a wireless telephone may also include a digital still camera, a digital video camera, a digital recorder, and an audio file player. Also, such wireless telephones may process executable instructions, including software applications, such as a web browser application that may be used to access the Internet. As network infrastructure evolves, such devices may have access to multiple networks. As such, these wireless telephones may include significant computing capabilities for processing voice and data using a variety of resources, and in some cases simultaneously.
A mobile communication device (e.g., a wireless telephone) may enable a user to utilize multiple subscriptions (that may be associated with the same or different networks). To illustrate, a first subscriber identity module (SIM) of a multi-SIM multi-standby (MSMS) device, or a multi-SIM multi-active (MSMA) device may be associated with a first subscription, a second SIM may be associated with a second subscription, and an Nth SIM may be associated with an Nth subscription. An MSMS or MSMA device may include dual-SIM devices (e.g. DSDS, DSDA, . . . ). In addition to subscription-based resources, devices may have access to wireless networks (e.g., WLAN) that may carry data and may present opportunities for calls using data resources (e.g., SIP, VoIP, . . . ).
In a MSMS device with a single receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) chain, subscriptions may accessing one or more shared radio frequency (RF) resources of the single Rx-Tx chain in order to monitor link information according to a variety of possible schemes that may avoid contention. In a MSMA device, access to shared radio resources may be managed to avoid contention and may allow all subscriptions to access respective service networks for periodic monitoring of link information. When originating a call on a multi-SIM device, however, the choice of which subscription to use may be challenging, particularly when radio environment conditions may change based on location, mobility, cost, power and other factors. Further, when engaged in a call on a first subscription, conditions for the call may degrade. Under ordinary circumstances, the caller may notice a degradation in the call quality and the call may ultimately drop. The caller may then attempt to reach the called party on an alternate subscription, but changing subscriptions may take time and, when a new call is made to the calling party, the new information associated with the alternate subscription may not be recognized by the called party and may not be accepted. Further, because the first call was dropped there is no convenient way to notify the called party that the caller will attempt the call using a new subscription or other means. As a result, the conversation may be significantly delayed until a new call may be arranged at a later time.